Still Trying To Maintain Control, Ms Lawson?
by cassie.hack
Summary: With a ship full of new potential love interests and without Miranda on board the Normandy anymore to keep Shepard in check, the former Cerberus operative starts to worry if she's still part of the plan...
1. Chapter 1

**Still trying to maintain control, Ms.** **Lawson?**

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_A/N: Finally (ugh, don't want to read that chapter over anymore, you can have it!) ... turns out it only took watching a couple of ME3-clips for new ideas to pop up... (Oh Kaidan, you weird, weird man... more about him in the second chapter... :) )  
To the story in general: it's mainly from Miranda's perspective and I won't go into detail what happened in those situations between Shepard and her crew, we'll just have to take her word for it... ;)_  
_I also try to stick to the story, which turned out to be pretty hard sometimes, switching back and forth between the original characters and my creations (cold vs. weird...), we'll see how that turns out...  
Oh and in case you wonder: I got bored of writing down their entire conversations, so I just decided Miranda wouldn't tell Shepard about her sister. Maybe it was just me but as much as I loved Miri in ME2, she was kinda starting to piss me off... "So, you just ordered me back to the Citadel just to tell me that you're in trouble but STILL don't need my help?" WTF?  
Now I hope you'll have fun reading it..._

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**"Commander, you have an encrypted message from a... Miranda Lawson."**

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Shepard's head rose as she entered the CIC. Oblivious to Samantha Traynor's watchful eyes, ready to pick up any reaction to her _not exactly_ coincidental announcement, Shepard approached her private terminal, still grinning after her short talk with Wrex in the Normandy's new War Room.

_Oh how I've missed my favorite little krogan clan leader... Makes all the negotiations between the krogans, turians _and_ salarians a lot more fun..._

"Well, I guess we'll head to the Citadel, then..." she decided without letting any kind of reaction to her former lover's message show on her face while scanning the rest of the new messages quickly.

_No reaction. That's a good sign, Samantha, that's a good sign..._

Shepard winked at a slightly blushing Samantha before heading for the cockpit to inform Joker about their new destination (and making sure he wasn't getting too distracted by his new copilot).

* * *

_Another bloody ship... and another one... aaaand another bloody ship..._

Miranda sighed and averted her gaze from the window showing the Citadel's outstretched arms and instead observed the door leading to the Normandy's airlock for what felt like the hundredth time. She had tried to distract herself by observing the passing ships after her heartbeat had started to increase its speed at the sight of the Normandy docking at the Citadel a while ago but it seemed to not have helped at all.

_That was ten bloody minutes ago! How long can it possibly take to leave that ship?_

Miranda felt her nervous anger rise up again. It seemed like the entire crew of the Normandy had left the ship already, all except for one particular person...

And then, finally, before Miranda could decide to trip the passing keeper up (_Bloody useless creatures! What's it even doing, always walking to and fro?_) in pent-up aggression, the door opened again and Miranda's grip on the railing tightened immediately.

_Damn it, I've missed her! _she had to admit to herself while relishing the sight in front of her.

Shepard gracefully made her way to the Viewing Deck... or maybe Shepard's pace just seemed to be graceful to her, Miranda didn't really care...

_Six months... How come she never tried to contact me? Her hair is longer now... Did she always have that sway in her hips?_

However, Miranda's thoughts were interrupted as Shepard walked toward her and... passed her by with a quick wink, approaching a man leaning against the railing not far from where Miranda had positioned herself.

_What the...? Did she just pass me by without a backward glance? ME?_

Miranda blinked in confusion before inconspicuously leaning backwards just a bit to get a better look at the commander and her companion.

_Oh, that's right, just show off a little more why don't you... I'm sure she'll be impressed by all those muscles. Yuh, she's looking alright, I bet she can hardly restrain herself... God, that woman... It should be _her_ lusting after _me_! Why do I even bother? There are still many other options out there for me... I wonder what Jacob's up to these days..._

_Oh, really? Does his outfit have to be so tight around the chest? Can he even breathe in that thing? Aaaand the next pose, in case she hasn't noticed your muscly arms before already... Leaning against a railing is my pose, you bloody imitator! Ugh, it's like she's devouring him with her eyes... Too bad I can't hear anything..._

She shot a quick angry glare at the turian and his wife saying their goodbyes nearby whose conversation drowned out everything Shepard and her companion said.

Just as she was about to inch a little closer to the commander, she saw Shepard nodding at her companion once and then finally making her way over to where Miranda was strangling the railing. She quickly turned her head back towards the window and feigned watching the passing ships again until she felt Shepard's presence behind her.

As soon as she was convinced that Shepard was actually waiting behind her and wasn't just passing her by a second time (_The nerve..._), she silently counted to ten (_That's for making me bloody wait!_) and took one last deep breath before she turned around as gracefully as possible considering her racing heart.

"Shepard. It's so good to finally see you."

With regret, she had to admit that the sarcastic emphasis she'd intended to put on the word "finally" wasn't as audible as she'd hoped, but Shepard seemed to have picked up on it nevertheless. The commander nervously scratched her shoulder while answering. "You too, Miranda."

Lifting her gaze from Shepard's hand to her face, Miranda's eyes widened as she spotted the bruised spot on Shepard's lower lip she must have missed while "observing" the commander the first time.

"Shepard, are you alright? Are you hurt?" she asked concernedly while her hand automatically reached for Shepard's bruised lip, gently stroking the commander's chin with her thumb, careful to avoid the bruised spot.

"Yeah, I ran into Jack a while back... Didn't think it would be necessary to waste medi-gel on something like that..."

Miranda's hand dropped immediately. _She met Jack before she met me? What, am I the last one of her former crew she meets? Would it have even crossed her bloody mind to meet me if I hadn't sent her that message? And Jack of all people..._

"Again?" Miranda sighed.

"No, not like that!" Shepard was quick to assure her as she noticed Miranda's expression, remembering the last time Miranda had caught her with a bruised lip from Jack. "She _actually_ hit me. And that's all that was to it. Really."

Miranda simply nodded, not the slightest bit convinced. Her eyes unintentionally wandered back to the man still leaning against the railing.

_I bet his bruises aren't as visible..._

"Listen, I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to keep you waiting, but I had to check on Cortez first. He's part of my new crew and he's having..."

"Speaking of which..." Miranda interrupted her. "Shepard, I went through your crew list and... your new yeoman is a... Samantha Traynor..."

"Actually, she's a Comm Specialist, but go on..."

Miranda's eyebrow rose momentarily before she continued, "Has she... has she tried anything?"

"Tried anything?" Now it was Shepard's turn to raise an eyebrow, her expression showing honest confusion.

_No need to fill her in, then. Don't want her to get any ideas already..._

Miranda turned and started walking past Shepard (brushing her arm in the process... by accident, of course...), forcing her to follow and hoping, the commander would quickly forget about her question.

"I couldn't get anywhere near you when the Alliance had you locked up," she started, silently hoping the suggestive tone in her voice would take Shepard's mind off the previous subject for good. Which it did, but not in the way Miranda had anticipated...

"Relieved of duty. It was complicated," Shepard answered while falling into step with her.

"I'm sure it was. I'm surprised they didn't court-martial you. The Alliance isn't known for its flexibility." _Speaking of... _Miranda's eyes admirably wandered up and down Shepard's form beside her.

"Doesn't matter now," Shepard answered dismissively. Her tone made Miranda pause.

"Shepard, about Earth..." she started, not sure how to address the subject.

"I'm all right. We'll figure out some way to even the odds. We have to." Shepard had stopped as well, her back still turned on Miranda.

"Everybody has a weakness. Even the Reapers," she offered but at the same time knew how weak her encouragement sounded. _I wish there was something I could do to help..._

Shepard hung her head at the memory of her escape from earth, still not used to the thought that she had been forced to just leave a fight. Miranda couldn't bare the sight any longer, quickly taking the few remaining steps separating them. "I'm sorry, Shepard."

Before she could decide whether it was appropriate to hug the commander or just pat her on the shoulder (after all, there was still that one question she had yet to ask...), Shepard turned her head, changing the subject unexpectedly. "What about you? What brings you here?"

Sensing Shepard's need to change the subject but at the same time suddenly feeling uncomfortable under the commander's gaze, Miranda started to walk again.

_I needed to see you! _"I need to talk to a few people. Like you." _Especially you. _"The Citadel is a good place to meet... for now. What's the Alliance's next move?"

"We have a plan. It's a long shot."

_Great, just don't tell me anything, that's fine... _"Not surprising."

Miranda averted her eyes, trying to calm her racing heart before she asked the questioned she'd asked herself over and over for the last couple of months. Even though she feared the answer (Shepard's unapproachability doing nothing to calm her...), she just had to know...

"Shepard... am I still part of your plan? It's been so long, I wasn't sure where we stood."

Time around them seemed to slow down while Miranda nervously waited for Shepard's answer. She finally raised her head as she felt Shepard taking her hands into her own as she spoke. "Miranda, things are never gonna be easy for us, but I'll always want you in my life."

_That's not exactly a clear answer..._

"No second thoughts? This is your chance to back out," she offered, a cautious smile appearing on her face.

"Well, now that I think about it... You're right, I still _do_ have other options..."

Miranda's jaw dropped, but before she could decide whether to throw the commander across the hall with her biotics or break down in tears and run away, Shepard squeezed her hands, forcing her to look her in the eyes again. "Wow, you've really missed me, haven't you?"

Miranda rolled her eyes. "Oh please..." _Damn it, don't blush, don't blush, don't blush!_

Shepard leaned in closer, her lips lightly brushing against Miranda's ear as she whispered, "Good. I've missed you too."

After the sudden rush of emotions had ebbed down, Miranda finally took a long overdue deep breath, the freshly inhaled oxygen reviving her senses enough for her to become aware of all the aliens surrounding them. So instead of making a lunge at Shepard, she leaned forward and quickly planted a shy kiss on her cheek.

"It was hard to be away from you," she admitted. "Surprised myself how... attached I got. I'm not good at attached."

Shepard's smile widened. "So, do you want me to carry your luggage? The Normandy's right over there and as far as I know, it's pretty empty right now, so you'd still have time to get accustomed to my new cabin.."

Miranda sadly shook her head, "Shepard, there are other things I need to take care of..."

"Like what?"

_Oh no, please don't look at me like that! I can't tell you about her..._

Although Miranda had prepared herself for this response (among others, of course... after all, it wasn't like she'd _anticipated _Shepard to immediately offer her help, mind you...), she was still surprised at the sudden regret she felt. Not telling Shepard about her sister's disappearance could turn out to be a bigger challenge for her than expected, Shepard's sparkling eyes not making it any easier for Miranda to turn her down...

_God, you'd do anythng for me, wouldn't you? But this isn't your mission... You have your hands full already with the entire galaxy waiting for you to pull their bloody asses out of this mess... I can't rely on you just like everybody else this time. They need your help more than I do. Imagine the news: "Reapers won war because saviour of the Citadel was too busy helping former Cerberus operative finding her sister"... Damn it, I didn't think this would be so hard... Focus, Lawson, you've prepared an answer for this!_

She shook her head, smiling. "If I need a door or two kicked down, I know just who to call. But for now, I'll be fine."

"Okay. I understand." _A door or two kicked down? I can be stealthy too if need be... _And with a hopeful smile, Shepard added, "You know, you could always work on the Normandy... Doing your research or whatever you need to do from there..."

Miranda challengingly crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I heard Dr. T'Soni has claimed my office..."

"Well, there's still space for you in my cabin..."

_Damn it, that bloody smile..._

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll be fine, Shepard. Really."

"Well, it was worth a try..." Noticing Miranda's sad expression, Shepard quickly forced a smile and tried to take her former XO's mind off her obviously troubling thoughts by asking, "Did you try to contact me when I was back on Earth?"

_Don't get cocky... _"A visit by the former Cerberus second-in-command would have been disastrous. Any kind of secret communication would have looked even worse. I was tempted to break in and see you..." Miranda added, trying hard not to blush at the memory of all the fantasies she'd had.

"That would have been... tough to explain..." Shepard smiled, obviously having a similar mental image, judging by her gleaming eyes.

"Right. Fun and games 'til they'd arrested me or just shot me on sight. I had to play it safe, for both of us." _Oh, but it would have been fun..._

"I understand." And sensing the end of their conversation, Shepard added, "I've got to get back to it."

"And I should get out of sight."

"Be careful."

"No promises."

* * *

A hesitant knock on the door jolted Miranda out of her thoughts.

_Damn it, no one's supposed to know I'm here..._

The datapad she'd held in her hand a second ago was quickly replaced by her pistol as she got up and cautiously approached the door of her rented room on the Citadel. Hiding the pistol behind her back, she opened the door and exhaled audibly as she recognised her visitor.

"Shepard, what are you doing here?"

"You didn't expect me to just leave you here on your own after our little talk, did you? Oh and by the way, that kiss wasn't nearly-"

Shepard was cut off as Miranda pulled her close and brushed her lips against the commander's.

"Much better." Shepard smiled while licking her lips.

"Just shut up and get in already!"

* * *

"So... That well-built man by the Viewing Deck..." Miranda slowly raised her hand, contemplating their intertwined fingers. She was lying next to Shepard, her head comfortably resting on Shepard's shoulder.

"Cortez. My shuttle pilot."

"Any intentions there?"

Shepard gave a short laugh, carefully running her free right hand through Miranda's hair while answering, "Well, he _did_ just lose his husband. I don't think it would have been appropriate for me to make a pass at him... I was actually getting a little worried about him listening to recordings of his husband's death over and over, so I thought it might be good for him to get out of the Normandy for a little while. And since that had been my suggestion, I felt it was also my responsibility to make sure he was doing alright over there..."

Miranda's head rose, her mouth forming an unspoken "Oh", the sight of it causing Shepard to smile and place a quick kiss on her former XO's forehead.

"Besides, I think he's happy enough with the sight of James doing his pull-ups down in the Shuttle Bay for now..."

"That would be James Vega...? The guy with the Mohawk?"

"Uh-huh."

"Any intentions _there_, then?"

Shepard sighed heavily. "Well, as hard as it may be for me to restrain myself at the sight of muscular bodies," she started while gently poking Miranda's (still _very_ flat, thank you very much!) belly, but was interrupted by her former XO's growl.

"Get out of that bed. Now!"

* * *

_A/N: Imagine Miranda's last sentence in the same tone she used at the beginning of ME2 when she tells you got get your ass out of the med bed... (just as a random sidenote...)  
Anyway... more pillow talk, don't know yet how that'll work out, I quote Jack: I'm not good at this soft stuff... :) Just felt like Miranda needs some closure from time to time (as much fun it's to tease her, even I can be nice from time to time...)  
Thoughts?  
_


	2. Chapter 2

**"Be careful, Commander. You keep feeding me like this and I'll follow you home..."**

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_A/N: Missed me? :) I'll just leave the chapter at that, too tired to change it... By the way: you're right, Leene, I __sometimes _do _rush myself with the updates but that's mainly 'cause I've got most of the story written down already and there are a lot of parts I'd love for you to read immediately... Heh, too bad I can't let that happen while the rest of the chapter's not finished yet, right? But that's what sneak peeks are for..._

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"Where are you going?" Miranda propped herself up on her elbows as she watched Shepard who was collecting her clothes scattered around the room.

"_We_ are going to have breakfast together," Shepard announced while picking up her boots.

Miranda snorted but didn't make any attempts to leave the bed. "Shepard, in case you hadn't noticed but there's a war going on out there and Cerberus is still on the loose. This is hardly the time to-"

"And people still need to eat, believe it or not..." Shepard interrupted her while throwing Miranda's jumpsuit on the bed. After one last sigh (just to make sure Shepard understood how utterly absurd that idea was...), Miranda finally crawled out of the bed and picked up her outfit, always accompanied by Shepard's grin.

* * *

"I still don't see why we should stay in a place as public as this any longer than absolutely necessary. There could be Cerberus assassins everywhere around us and we wouldn't know it until it was too late." Miranda started rubbing her temples again while Shepard, who was sitting across from her, was studying _Apollo's cafe'_s menu.

Without raising her eyes, Shepard gestured around them. "Don't worry, Liara's positioned right over there, overlooking the scene, I could call Joker for help if I yelled loud enough and Garrus should be positioned on one of those roofs up there with his sniper rifle ready."

Miranda, slightly irritated, leaned back in her chair, an eyebrow raised. "He's not really on a rooftop with his sniper rifle, is he?"_ Ugh, I don't even want to think about which inappropriate body part he'd be zooming in on right now..._

Shepard finally put the menu back on the table, a smile on her face. "No, not really..." she admitted. And before Miranda could open her mouth, she added, "But he _could_ be, if I'd call him. If that would make you feel safer..."

Letting out another sigh, Miranda rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling as Shepard reached over the table and took her hands in hers.

"Listen, I know you've got work to do and I'll make sure it won't take too long, but is it wrong for me to want to spend as much time with you as possible? Who knows when we'll get the chance to do that again..."

"You're right, I-"

"Surprised this place can still get supplies for a menu like this."

Both Miranda's and Shepard's head shot up as Kaidan pulled over a chair from a nearby table and sat down at theirs.

"Erm, Kaidan... I didn't know you were here... I believe you haven't met my-"

"I'm glad we're taking the time to do this. I could use a sanity check." Kaidan's eyes drifted off as he observed some passing skycars before he sighed and turned back to Shepard, whose mouth hung open in surprise at the sudden intrusion. "You know, my life flashed in front of my eyes on Mars – and there weren't enough moments like this, with people I care about."

Miranda's grip on Shepard's hand momentarily tightened before she quickly pulled her hand back, her eyes suspiciously shooting from a puppy-eyed Kaidan to a squirming Shepard.

"Maybe we should order, what do you think? Do you want something to drink, Miranda?" Shepard offered with an apologetic smile.

"If you're trying to butter me up, it might take a nice steak sandwich, too." Kaidan gave a short, nervous laugh while placing a hand on Shepard's arm, which she hurriedly pulled back, before he continued, "And to drink... Shot of whiskey and a good old Canadian lager. Think they have it?"

Miranda's grip on the table tightened while her eyes narrowed, still locked on Shepard who perplexedly started to brush her hand over her forehead. But before she could come up with a good answer (or signal Matriarch Aethyta to throw Kaidan off the balcony with her biotics just to end this uncomfortable situation), he happily continued, "At my parent's place in Vancouver, heh, drank more than a few beer on their balcony looking over English Bay." And without being asked, he added, "Yeah, beautiful view..." His eyes were on Shepard at that as he dreamily smiled at his commander.

Before the conversation could become even more awkward, Miranda shot up from her seat and announced "There's a lot to do, Shepard. Maybe another time..." before she turned on her heels and stormed away, accompanied by Kaidan's whisper. "Who was _she_?"

* * *

"I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do for you, Ms. Lawson."

"I understand..." Miranda weighed the received datapad in her hand, hoping it would hold more information about her sister's whereabouts than the apologizing look on her contact's face implied.

After her interrupted breakfast in the Presidium Commons, she'd decided to skip it altogether and instead had set up a meeting with one of her last contacts on the Citadel before she would have to spread out the search for her sister to more distant locations.

She nodded once and left her salarian contact, heading back to the elevator of the Holding Area before she stopped dead in her tracks, almost dropping the datapad. There, to her left, almost hidden by all those containers surrounding them, were two familiar figures...

_Bloody Chambers! Didn't waste any time meeting her behind my back I see... Aaaand she's all over Shepard again, why am I not surprised? Does this woman have no self-control at all? Don't you think that's long enough for a simple hug? And don't you even _dare_ letting your hands wander any lower... Ugh, why do I always have to see all of this? But... since I'm already here..._

Slowly approaching a nearby container, her eyes fixated on the two figures in front of her, Miranda only noticed the batarian lying on the floor nearby when it was already too late...

"Ey, watch where you're goin', missy!" the batarian yelled and accusingly pointed at his arm, now jammed under Miranda's heel.

She immediately recoiled and, after a quick look around, confirming that almost everyone around them had turned their heads in her direction, decided that it might be best to leave before Shepard or Kelly decided to join the spectators already scattering around them. And so, after an annoyed sigh, Miranda angrily shoved past a startled turian and stormed away, accompanied by the batarian's loud vociferation. "Did you see that? She attacked me out of nowhere! That's right, run away and hide, that's all you humans can do! Damn racists!" And noticing the increase of the curious audience now surrounding him, he started sobbing. "Oh god, my arm... I think it's broken! Oh god, the pain! I did nothing to her... Nothing! And she just... oh, my arm, oh god... the pain's unbearable!"

* * *

A couple of days later, Miranda was shoving her way through a crowded street on an (obviously) overpopulated planet. She'd known that being on the run wouldn't be as glamorous as it sounded, but having to meet her contacts on one shady location after the other did nothing to lighten up her mood.

So far, the search for her sister had turned up nothing of importance and her assumption that her father had something to do with Oriana's disappearance seemed to become more likely with every passing day...

"Commander, it's no secret that Council space has suffered some serious losses to the Reapers lately. Now Cerberus has struck directly at the seat of our government. If something as small as a human terrorist organization can hit the Citadel, is anywhere safe?"

"Cerberus has limited resources."

Miranda's head shot up at the familiar voice. She stopped her pace and turned to face the news terminal fully, deciding that her contact could wait a little longer...

_Wait, is that Shepard's fish tank? Is she being interviewed in her private cabin?_

"This coup attempt was likely the best they could do. And it cost them a lot of money and troops."

_God, those eyes..._

"A little fear is understandable, but it can't paralyze you. They've failed as many times as they've succeeded."

"But humanity has lost its councilor. The Alliance Parliament is destroyed, and the prime minister's dead. The line of succession is getting pretty short. How long do you expect any new Alliance administration to last?"

_Shepard, where are your eyes going...? Did she... did she just look that reporter up and down? Is she flirting with her? Damn it, why don't they show the reporter's face?_

"Leaders will rise. You can't lose hope. Our enemies won't rest until they've taken the last human being. Until then, we're not beaten. Right now, it's everyone's duty to step up."

_She's _actually_ using a paragon answer... She never does that! At least not in public... Ugh, is she just acting nice to impress that reporter?_

"All right. Now a question from Thessia: 'Commander, during your tribunal, some said you had Cerberus ties...'"

_Ha! Serves you right..._

* * *

"Shepard. I saw your interview with Diana Allers!"

"It's nice to see you too, Miranda..."

Miranda's holographic image crossed its arms over its chest, observing the commander without another word before Shepard nervously started rubbing the nape of her neck.

"Did I say anything wrong?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm pretty sure you found exactly the right words to impress her..."

A smile spread across Shepards face then. "Wait, are you jealous? Again?"

Still_, more likely... _"This isn't funny, Shepard! She was in your cabin!"

"She asked me to call her up to my cabin for the interview..."

"And you didn't think that was strange? That _maybe_ she just needed an excuse to visit you in private?"

"I wouldn't call that private... She still had her camera with her..."

"And I'm sure you could make a lot of extra credits releasing that video on the extranet..."

Shepard's smile didn't vanish as she ran a hand through her hair. "This may come as a shock for you, Miranda, but not every person I meet immediately wants to sleep with me... And even if they did, which in Diana's case may or may not be true, that doesn't mean I'd just give in... Hm, I actually suspect the Normandy to have something to do with that phenomenon... Maybe it's something in the air ventilation system... Huh, I should ask EDI about that... Or maybe it's just my mysterious aura..." she added with a wink.

"I'm sure Kelly couldn't resist your mysterious aura when you secretly met her in the Holding Area," Miranda mumbled, not in the slightest convinced by Shepard's speech.

"What does Kelly have to do with... You know what? Nevermind... So, what's next? Are you going to forbid me taking EDI on missions from now on just because her new outfit slightly resembles yours?"

"Which outfit?"

Shepard bit her lower lip, deciding that she would inform Miranda about EDI's newly acquired body another time, and hastily continued, "Speaking of Kelly... I _did_ run into her recently and guess what? She took care of my fish while I was gone because, according to her, no one was going to take care of them, so she _saved_ them..."

Now it was Miranda's turn to bite her lower lip. _Her fish, of course... Didn't she have a space hamster too? Hm, maybe it's time to change the subject..._

"I heard about the attempted coup." _At least one thing that bloody interview was good for..._

Shepard leaned against the railing in front of her, obviously as grateful for the changed subject as Miranda herself.

"Yeah. With Kai Leng's help, Udina nearly seized control," she answered regretfully.

"Kai Leng? That slippery bastard's still alive?" _I swear, if I find even one little scratch on Shepard, I'll rip your bloody heart out with my bare hands, you bastard!_

"He's alive and right in the middle of all this." Shepard took a step backwards, lowering her gaze at the memory of Kai Leng's encounter with Thane not long ago.

"That complicates things. I'll be on my guard."

Miranda sighed, sensing Shepard's unspoken offer to help with whatever problem she had. _Am I doing the right thing? God, it used to be so easy before... Just relying on Shepard whenever there had been a problem... Knowing I didn't have to do things on my own anymore... But I can't drag her into this. Not with this war going on..._ "I better get going," she stated, averting her eyes.

"Be careful," Shepard implied once again while leaning forward on the railing.

"I can't promise that, Shepard. Could you?"

It almost broke Miranda's heart to see the look on Shepard's face as the commander answered. "No, I couldn't."

"It's going to be alright, Shepard. I'll be fine. I'm still superior in many ways, remember?" A cautious smile started tugging at Miranda's lips, knowing how easily Shepard's grim thoughts could be put aside by her teasing words. For a short time at least, but it should be long enough for her to muster the will to cut the connection...

Shepard's face immediately lit up at her words and Miranda, content with the result, turned to end the transmission. Just as her finger touched the panel and her holographic image started to disappear, she caught one last glimpse of Shepard's gleaming eyes as the commander grinningly added, "Oh, and Miranda... thanks for the warning. Now I know what you meant with your hints about Samantha..."

Miranda's head shot back up. "Wait, what? What happened? What do you mean? Shepard?" But the connection was already cut.

_Damn it, how dare she?_ Miranda thought while she hammered at the control panel, trying to set up a new connection but receiving no response from Shepard's end...

* * *

_A/N: First of all: Kaidan... STFU! (I apologize to all those Kaidan-lovers out there, I just couldn't resist... :) )  
Oh and if you watch that first interview again (on youtube or while playing the game) you'll see that Shep's eyes actually wander a bit during that part, I didn't make that up!  
Sneak peek... erm, let's see... which part..._

* * *

"Chambers?" _Or Kaidan..._

"As you already know, and let me just add: you could have just come over and talked to us instead of hiding in the shadows like some creepy stalker... Anyway, I met her in the Holding Area. We hugged, we talked, she promised to send me back my fish and that's it."

"What kind of hug?" came Miranda's muffled voice from Shepard's neck where she'd nestled her head.

"Hm, let me think about it... I'd say it was a Hey-it's-good-to-see-you-again-let's-stay-friends-because-of-all-this-end-of-the-world-scenario-around-us-hug..."

Shepard felt Miranda smile against her neck before she went to the next name on her mental list, "Allers?" _Or Kaidan..._

"Might have been interested but I let her down gently..."

Miranda scoffed. "I'm sure you did... Was it before or after the second interview in your _private _cabin?"

"Is this a bad time to mention that, in fact, a lot of my crew members visit me in my cabin when they want to talk in private?"

"Like Traynor?" _Or Kaidan..._

"For example... Heh, she admired my shower..."

Miranda's head shot up, almost colliding with Shepard's chin.


	3. Chapter 3

**"I got your message, Miranda..."**

.

_A/N: Been a while, huh? I'm not entirely happy with this one but I'm out of ideas to change it, so I'll just leave it...  
Thanks for all your reviews by the way, you have no idea how much I love reading them (yup, I need the reassurance!), and while I'm at it...  
AnonRahem: Trust me, I'd love go into more detail in those scenes, but I _really _suck at action scenes, and I mean all kinds of action... :)  
Anyway, hope it doesn't suck that much..._

* * *

_No bruised lip this time, that's a start... _Miranda decided while Shepard approached her, the door behind her already closing again.

She pushed herself off the couch's backrest she'd been leaning on while waiting for Shepard, feeling the nervousness inside her rise with every passing second. She brushed a hand over her forehead. When had this all become so complicated? Why couldn't they meet without her having to brush the happy smile off Shepard's face right away? She'd wished it wouldn't come to this, that she wouldn't have to exploit her relationship to, admittedly, one of the most powerful person in the galaxy right now, but she was so close to finding her sister...

"Shepard, I need access to Alliance resources."

Shepard sighed mockingly. "If only you knew how much I miss your heart warming greetings when I'm away on missions..." She raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why do you need them?"

"I can't say any more. You'll just have to trust me." Miranda averted her eyes.

Shepard stopped midway, crossing her arms in front of her chest. _This again... _"I don't like secrets, Miranda. Just tell me what's going on."

_Can't blame you... _"I can't, Shepard. If that's a problem, I'll go..." She couldn't bare looking Shepard in the eyes after her weak threat and instead still contemplated her boots while she waited for Shepard's answer, which followed swiftly...

"No, don't!" Shepard reached out and touched Miranda's arm, immediately sending warmth through her former XO's entire body at the touch. Miranda swallowed hard but forced herself not to raise her eyes just yet. She needed an answer...

Defeated, as Miranda still refused to look at her, Shepard let her hand drop again only seconds later, causing Miranda's body to cry out in displeasure at the loss. Her eyebrow rose involuntarily. It was amazing how accustomed her body seemed to have gotten to Shepard's presence without her mind having anything to say in the matter anymore... _Stupid bunch of hormones!_

"You'll have your access, Miranda. Whatever you need, it's yours." A hopeful smile appeared on Shepard's face as she added, "I could even offer you the Normandy SR-2, completely filled with its entire crew, including a _very_ handsome and _very_ talented commander... And to top it off... I could add some asari commandos." She shrugged. "Liara recently got some from her father..."

Miranda's eyebrow shot up. _Do I even want to know?_ She shook her head and sighed. _No, I don't..._ "The resources will do for now, but... thank you, it means a lot." She quickly turned her head to the side again, biting her lower lip. Damn it, she'd been _so_ close to accepting Shepard's offer. Way too close for her liking... _Get a grip, Lawson! You don't need asari commandos..._

"You're still not going to tell me what this is all about, are you?" And as Miranda simply shook her head, still biting her lower lip (which slowly started to hurt now that she thought about it, but Miranda didn't know how else to restrain herself, so it would have to do for a little while longer...), Shepard threw her hands up in frustration, sighing heavily.

_No need to play the offended girlfriend and make it even harder for her, I suppose... _she decided after another quick glance at Miranda's troubled expression before she took a deep breath to shove her frustration away. _Damn she's stubborn..._ Shepard had to admit, but if Miranda wanted to take care of her problems herself, there was nothing she could do about it... Well, except maybe asking a certain Shadow Broker to find out what she was up to, but that could wait... There seemed to be something else that was troubling Miranda...

"That's not the only thing you wanted to talk about, is it?"_ At least I hope so..._

"No." For a second, she considered to simply make a lunge at Shepard and forget about her confession altogether... but then again, she _had_ prepared it for quite some time now... She sighed and in a quieter voice added, "I need to tell you something... Confess, really..." She turned, knowing she wouldn't be able to get another word out if she faced Shepard any longer, and leaned on the couch's backrest again, hanging her head. "It's been eating away at me."

"Confess?" Shepard stepped next to her, leaning against the couch while she observed her curiously.

Miranda exhaled deeply before starting, "When I headed the Lazarus Project to rebuild you, I wanted to implant a control chip in you as a safeguard." She paused, absent-mindedly observing the passing ships outside the window in front of her when she noticed the sudden movement next to her. She turned her head alarmed, a concerned expression on her face. To be honest, she _had_ expected an angry reaction from Shepard. She had worked alongside the commander long enough to learn not to deceive herself about Shepard's violent nature, but she hadn't expected it to happen so soon... She hadn't even told her the entire stor-

Shepard quickly closed the (already small) gap between them and before Miranda could open her mouth again to explain her actions, Shepard blocked it with her own.

"You already mentioned that," Shepard whispered against Miranda's lips. "So if this is all you wanted to talk about, I've got better ideas to pass the short time we have left..." She smiled, raising an eyebrow as she stated, "It's become far too depressing already."

Miranda tried to push Shepard away while she shook her head. "Shepard, listen, there's more to it. The Illusive Man stopped-" She was cut off again as Shepard gently pushed her down on the couch, following close behind.

"Miranda, really? You want to talk about this _now_?" Shepard gestured at Miranda's body pinned under hers.

_No..._ Miranda regretfully thought, biting her lower lip as Shepard steadied herself on the unexpectedly small couch by placing one of her knees between her former XO's thighs. Miranda sighed, forcing her mind to remember what it was she'd wanted to tell Shepard, but the commander already spoke again, obviously having found her balance by applying some more pressure with her knee and causing all the words Miranda's mind had been able to gather so far to vanish again.

"Listen, whatever it was: I don't need to hear it. It doesn't matter now and it won't change my feelings for you. I was a complete unknown at the time..." Her brows furrowed for a second. "Hell, I don't even remember how many Cerberus operatives I've killed before I met you..."

Realising that she'd just spent way too much time away from Miranda's lips (and hoping that way she could prevent Miranda from thinking about her statement... the former Cerberus operative had already raised an eyebrow...), she lowered her head again to right that wrong.

Miranda managed to free her mouth once again and whimpered, "But... I need to say this! I had this whole speech prepared, damn it... Listen, he didn't want to interfere with who you truly- Shepard, please..."

"I'm listening..." came the muffled answer from Miranda's neck.

"I've never had to deal with that many- God..." Miranda groaned as she felt Shepard's fingers on her jumpsuit's zipper. "I felt blind."

"M-hm..."

"I fought against my father and his..." A ragged gasp. "...need... to run every aspect of my... life." With a heavy sigh, Miranda had to admit that this confession would turn out to be a lot harder than expected...

Trying to focus on her words, she continued, running a shaky hand through her hair just to have something else to focus on. "He wanted total... control over me, right down to my... bloody... DN-"

A moan escaped her lips before Miranda could stop it. Shepard's head rose for a moment, a wide grin on her face.

"You were saying?" she teased before lowering her head to Miranda's breasts again.

"I had this whole speech prepared, you bloody..." _No time! _Before her ragged breathing could completly ruin her speech, she desperately blurted out, "I didn't give a second thought to destroying your free will when I had the power!"

Shepard finally stopped and propped herself up on her elbows, while still partly hovering over Miranda's body. Miranda fearfully avoided her gaze. _Damn it! Now I've ruined it..._

"_This_ is what's been bothering you?" Miranda didn't need to see Shepard's face to know that her eyebrow was raised and the commander was smiling, which brought back at least some of her confidence... Maybe Shepard wouldn't react as badly as she'd expected... And feeling Shepard's breath on her cheek, she decided she could rule out the fear of being tossed out of the window for now...

"I told you it's crazy," she murmured.

"Well, from what I gathered..." Miranda slapped Shepard's shoulder. _It would have made sense if you hadn't interrupted me this whole time!_ "It's not crazy. Well..." Miranda's eyebrow rose in fear. "Maybe a little crazy..." Shepard added with a smirk.

"Shepard..."

Sensing how important it seemed to be for Miranda to hear her reassurance, she crawled off her former XO, helping the still slightly panting Miranda reaching a sitting position on the couch in the process, and kneeled in front of the couch, her hands resting to both sides of Miranda's thighs. "Miranda, I lost two years of my life. You gave me back the rest of it," she stated as soon as Miranda's eyes met her own. "You could have changed me in a thousand different ways, but you didn't. Although..." A smile appeared on her face. "I always wanted to know how it feels to be invisible on the battlefield..."

Miranda rolled her eyes. "Shepard, you're a Vanguard." And shrugging her shoulders, she added, "And there are still tactical cloak mods..."

"Yeah, they don't really work for me... I borrowed Kasumi's once and it ran out before I had even reached your office..."

"_What?_"

"Hm?" _Oh crap!_

Miranda narrowed her eyes. The two of them stared at each other for a while before Shepard nervously cleared her throat and got back on her feet. "Erm, anyway..." She started rubbing the nape of her neck. "I don't know how, but you brought me back," she offered, smiling hopefully.

Miranda narrowed her eyes a couple of seconds more before she sighed. _I'll let it slide... For now... God, you're lucky you're so talented... _"Thanks, but with so much being uncertain, I just wanted you to know I always regretted wanting that chip." Miranda regretfully pulled up her jumpsuit's zipper again. It didn't look like they'd-

"Miranda," Shepard turned and approached the bed nearby, causing Miranda's heart to immediately start racing again. "We're both under so much pressure to be perfect. We never give ourselves a break," she added while stopping midway and looking back at Miranda, causing her to momentarily wonder if the commander had secretly practiced that pose... Not that she didn't appreciate the view, mind you...

"We can't give ourselves a break... There's too much at stake." Miranda turned her head away. _Like the entire bloody galaxy..._

"Hey," Shepard's voice broke through Miranda's grim thoughts.

"Yes?" She turned towards Shepard who was now sitting at the edge of the bed which suddenly looked _very_ comfortable...

"Come here." Shepard ordered in a soft voice.

Unable to hide the smile as she obliged, she got up from the couch. "Oh. Still impatient, Commander?" she asked teasingly while slowly making her way over to the waiting Spectre, causing Shepard to momentarily wonder if Miranda had secretly perfected her walk... Not that she didn't appreciate the view, mind you...

"Still trying to maintain control, Ms. Lawson?" Shepard retorted, gladly taking in the sight in front of her.

"Trying... but failing." Miranda smiled as she rested her hands on the bed.

"Good. I'm almost out of moves," Shepard admitted, casually leaning backwards and allowing Miranda to crawl on top of her, a predatory grin on her face as she leaned down.

"I'm not."

"Me neither, I was just kidding..."

"M-hm..."

"No, really! I just thought it would sound all sensitive and..."

"Oh, just shut up!"

* * *

"Chambers?" _Or Kaidan..._

"As you already know, and let me just add: you could have just come over and talked to us instead of hiding in the shadows like some creepy stalker..."

Miranda sighed. _I should have let that part out..._

"Anyway, I met her in the Holding Area. We hugged, we talked, she promised to send me back my fish and... that's all."

"What kind of hug?" came Miranda's muffled voice from Shepard's neck where she'd nestled her head.

"Hm, let me think about it... I'd say it was a Hey-it's-good-to-see-you-again-let's-stay-friends-because-of-all-this-end-of-the-world-scenario-around-us-hug..."

Shepard felt Miranda smile against her neck before she went to the next name on her mental list, "Allers?" _Or Kaidan..._

"Might have been interested but I let her down gently..."

Miranda scoffed. "I'm sure you did... Was it before or after the second interview in your _private _cabin?"

"Is this a bad time to mention that, in fact, a lot of my crew members visit me in my cabin when they want to talk in private?"

"Like Traynor?" _Or Kaidan..._

"For example... Heh, she admired my shower..."

Miranda's head shot up, almost colliding with Shepard's chin.

"It _is_ a nice shower..." Shepard stated, effortlessly catching Miranda's hand, which was intended to slap the side of her head, and placing a quick kiss on it before she continued. "We played chess, I hope that wasn't too inapproriate..."

"Who won?"

Shepard gave a short laugh. "Me, of course..."

Miranda's head rose, as did her eyebrow. "So Traynor won..."

"Well, I wouldn't call that winning... If we'd been on the battlefield, my strategy would have worked."

"Right..." Miranda repositioned herself, resting her head on Shepard's shoulder for a change. "So what about your former crew? Met anyone interesting?" A smile appeared on her face. "What happened between you and Jack anyway?" she asked challengingly.

Shepard sighed. "This again? I don't take my defeats lightly, you know..."

"So she actually hit you?"

"She catched me off guard, I wasn't prepared!"

"What, did you expect her to hug you?"

_Maybe? _"No... of course not. Erm, let's change the topic... You're still not going to tell you what you'll do next, are you?"

"Let's... stop the talk altogether for a while, shall we?"

* * *

Hours later, Miranda woke up to the blinking of her omni-tool. She quickly turned her head to reassure herself that Shepard was still sleeping next to her before she got out of the bed and scanned the message she'd just received. Her eyes narrowed instantly and she hurriedly collected her clothes, stopping only momentarily as she stood in front of the door. Pulling up the zipper of her jumpsuit, she shot a last glance at Shepard's sleeping form, a sad smile appearing on her face before she turned and silently left the room.

Her mind was racing as she quickly made her way past the other apartments and down the stairs. The one word, the received message had been titled with, racing through her mind over and over again: "Sanctuary"

* * *

_A/N: Where was our paragon/renegade interruption during that scene in the actual game, bioware? Why does Thane get one and Miranda doesn't? Oh well... Since it's pretty clear what will happen in the next chapter, how about a sneak peek for the chapter after that?_

* * *

"Commander," Joker's voice came through the comm.

"What is it, Joker?" _Please say something to distract her..._

"Aria sends her regards. She says, if you keep waking up on her couch every weekend, she might have to charge you for it someday..."

_Oh great..._

Just at that moment, the elevator doors finally opened again, making all heads turn as an enraged Javik stormed out of it and into the CIC. He accusingly pointed his finger at Shepard. "I do _not_ have any preferences, Commander! And I do _not_ 'like' anyone on this ship! Foolish, intoxicated quarian! This cycle is doomed! Doomed!" he exclaimed while shoving past Shepard and Miranda.

"Was that...?"

"Javik, yes. The Normandy's own little ray of sunshine..."

"Charming..."

"Well, looks like our elevator's here." Shepard exclaimed while shoving Miranda through the open elevator doors.

"She blushed!"

"Yeah, she does that fairly regularly..."

"I wonder why..."

"Ha! Sarcasm... Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

**"This is Oriana Lawson. Stay away from Sanctuary. It's not what it seems."**

.

"...Please, you must listen to me! They're using-" The rest of the message was interrupted by static.

"Oriana?" Shepard had to grab a hold at the shuttle's doorframe leading into the cockpit as she listened to the recording coming from Sanctuary. "That's Miranda's sister. If she's here, Miranda can't be far away." Her heart skipped a beat, although she couldn't say whether that was because of excitement or fear...

"That's our link to Cerberus," EDI confirmed, stepping behind the commander. Shepard nodded absent-mindedly.

"Approaching the LZ," Cortez informed as he calmly steered the shuttle towards the facility. "Seeing some damage, Commander, but no activity."

Shepard stepped behind his seat and leaned forward to get a closer look at Sanctuary's entrance area, looking more like a battlefield than a safe haven now...

_Damn it, Miranda, what did you get yourself into?_ Letting her eyes wander over the place in front of her, her eyebrow rose involuntarily. _You left without a goodbye and missed breakfast in bed with me for _this_? Tsk, tsk..._

* * *

_"Welcome to Sanctuary," a cheerful voice greeted Miranda as she approached Sanctuary's main doors. She ducked her head as she heard a loud scream. The automatic greeting must have alerted a harvester who was now flying over her. Remaining silent, she watched the harvester circle around the entrance area a few more times before something else must have caught the beast's attention. With another shriek, it passed her by without noticing the former Cerberus operative crouching behind a smoking crate near the still open entrance._

Great job, Miranda... 'Asari commandos, you say? Oh no, don't worry, Shepard, I don't need them. I'll be just fine, storming a place crawling with Cerberus and Reaper troops on my own...'_ Miranda cursed herself under her breath._

_As soon as she was sure the harvester was gone, she carefully slipped through the door, waiting for it to close behind her before she made her way through the empty entrance area. Except for the cracking of a nearby fire, it was silent around her, but Miranda still drew her pistol as she passed the deserted desks near Sanctuary's registration. The ground underneath her heels crunched as she stepped over shattered glass that was scattered all over the floor. Scanning her surroundings, she slowed her walk to make as little noise as possible, but she still couldn't make out any enemies yet. It seemed that the majority of the fights had already taken place..._

_A loud noise made her turn her head away from the terminal she'd just inspected and she froze as she watched two Alliance shuttles crash through the glass ceiling to her right and into the ground below her. She immediately turned on her heels and hurried down the stairs leading to the lower level, wondering once more why she had never considered buying boots that were a bit more practical for the kind of situations she always seemed to find herself in... _

_As soon as she'd reached the shuttles and got a better look at the state they were in, her hopes of finding any survivors vanished. Still, she knelt down and peeked through one of the shuttle's windows, only to be greeted by the sight of death she'd expected._

_Two blue points appearing to her right jolted her back to reality and she rolled to the side just as two explosions shook the shuttle, the shots impacting right where she'd been standing only a second ago. She turned back around, her pistol already raised and her free hand glowing with biotics, ready to face her enemy. _

_After only one shot, the ravager behind her made one last gurgling sound and dropped dead to the ground. Miranda's eyebrow rose at the unexpected easyness of the fight. She'd at least expected to use her biotics... Lowering the arm holding her pistol, she approached the ravager's corpse and finally noticed the dead Cerberus Assault Trooper lying next to it. Scanning her surroundings, she figured the ravager must have already been weakened from the previous fight against all the dead Cerberus Assault Troopers scattered around the room... _

Not my problem... _she decided, shrugging her shoulders as she quickly crossed the room, stopping only once to pick up a thermal clip. Just in case the following fights would be a bit more challenging than her previous one... _

_As she straightened up, she noticed the console standing prominently in a room to her left. _Huh, that could work...

* * *

_"This is a Cerberus facility..."_

"Shepard."

EDI's voice made Shepard turn away from the wallsafe she'd just relieved of its content and she approached her two companions gathered around a console nearby.

Feeling her squad's worried eyes on her (or at least Liara's... it was kind of hard to tell if EDI actually _could_ feel worry...), she unnecessarily stated, "That's Miranda," and activated the console that immediately started showing images of Sanctuary, accompanied by Miranda's recorded voice.

_"This is Miranda Lawson. If you managed to come this far, you must be desperate or stupid."_ A smile appeared on Shepard's face at the familiar voice _and_ sarcasm... _"Listen to me. This is not a refugee camp. This is a Cerberus facility run by my father, Henry Lawson. Turn back now. There's no help to be found here – all communication is being blocked from the central tower. Sanctuary is a lie. Stay away."_

"Okay," Shepard stepped away from the console as soon as she was sure there wasn't anything more on the message (like a 'I'm sorry I left, Shepard' or 'Let's have dinner tonight. My treat'...). "So, we've got Cerberus, Reapers, and Miranda's crazy father. Any ides how this all fits?" she asked sarcastically without actually expecting an answer. Sighing, she turned towards the door leading out of the room, but just as she was about to head there, she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Shepard, are you all right?"

Shepard immediately relaxed at Liara's touch and turned back to her, smiling. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine." And after seeing Liara's still concerned expression, she added, "She can take care of herself." _She has to..._

Shepard turned back to the door, motioning her squad to follow. "Let's go. Wouldn't want her to take out all enemies for us... Where would be the fun in that?" Inhaling deeply, she added, "I think I smell husk..."

Liara rolled her eyes and after making sure they hadn't missed anything in the room (Shepard would have been furious if she'd missed any collectibles...), she followed Shepard and EDI out in the open. _As long as the fights keep her occupied..._

* * *

_"Reaper forces have made a mess of the facility." Miranda quickly tapped commands into the terminal in front of her while continuing, "I'm shutting down the power to the processing plant to lock them down. Should keep them out of the entrance as well."_

I just hope this works..._ she thought as she turned and hurried away from the console. _Ugh, husks... _She shuddered involuntarily as she ran through the next room, oblivious to the person now stepping out of the shadows behind her..._

* * *

"Kai Leng. She won't know he's here." Liara stepped closer to Shepard, placing a comforting hand on the commander's back to jolt her out of her grim thoughts. Shepard blinked and relaxed her grip on the console in front of her as they watched the recording of Kai Leng's talk to the Illusive Man that followed.

Seeing the surveillance videos had been reassuring so far. It felt good to see Miranda alive, but Shepard knew that they were just that: recordings... The thought that she didn't know what had happened in the meantime troubled her, especially now that she knew Miranda had a pursuer... The thought of the Cerberus assassin suddenly presenting a threat to Miranda sent a cold chill down Shepard's spine. They shouldn't waste any more time...

"Damn it. Let's move!" Shepard pushed herself off the console and started running towards the door leading to the next room with Liara and EDI following close behind.

"Husks!" Liara warned as she recognised the sound coming from the other side of the door, but Shepard was already stomping on one of said creature's head.

"Not surprised!" she shouted over her shoulder while shoving her shotgun under the next creature's chin.

While Liara rolled her eyes, Shepard sent a Shockwave into an approaching group of husks and before Liara could even start to create a Singularity, the commander was already standing next to her again as she watched the last husk explode in front of them, proudly patting the Scorpion in her hand.

"You've got some husk on your shoulder..." Shepard pointed out while wiping off some blue, slimy tissue from Liara's armor.

"Ugh, husks..." Liara shuddered.

"Gotta be more where they came from."

_Great..._

* * *

"Ugh, banshees..." Shepard shuddered. They had finally cleared the next area of said creature, accompanied by a couple of other Reaper monstrosities (Shepard had stopped keeping count a long time ago...) and she was now frantically making sure she didn't have any remains of the creature on her armor...

"As I recall, you weren't the one almost being lifted up by one..." Liara remarked dryly, an eyebrow raised.

Shepard shuddered again. "It followed me back into the room with Lawson's logs..." she whispered, shooting a quick sideglance at said room in horror.

"Shepard, I found more logs," EDI's distant voice informed, causing both of them to turn their heads in her direction.

Liara nodded and pulled Shepard, whose eyes were still wide in terror at the memory of her previous fight, along with her. "It's dead, Shepard," she soothed, patting the commander's arm while they crossed the great hall (carefully avoiding the still smoking remains of their fallen enemies) to join EDI in the next room to listen to yet another log documenting Henry Lawson's "progress"...

As soon as the log started playing, Shepard felt a sudden boredom arise in her at the sound of the man's self-aggrandizing voice... Feeling the need to move, she took a few steps back from the console and turned, slowly wandering around the room and inspecting their surroundings. Liara turned away from the console as well, following Shepard with her eyes. Knowing the commander, it wouldn't take long until- She sighed, rubbing her temples. _Of course..._

"Shepard, don't touch that!" Liara's voice made Shepard take a step back from the window she'd just inspected and she turned her head towards the asari approaching her hastily.

"Now that's how I like my banshees..." Shepard smiled widely as she pointed at the creature hissing angrily at her and, for some strange reason, constantly releasing biotic projectiles without seeming to realize that her attack didn't have any effect at all... "Hidden behind thick glass..." Shepard continued and turned back to the banshee trapped in the room behind the window and waved at her.

"Now you're just provoking it... Shepard, stop tapping at the glass!" Liara tried catching Shepard's hands, but suddenly stopped as an idea started forming in her mind. She placed a challenging hand on her hip and warned, "You do realize that we still might encounter it later on, don't you?"

Shepard immediately sprang back from the window, murmured "Let's move," and turned on her heels, approaching the door to the next room. Liara smiled as she followed Shepard, who was already standing in front of another console, tapping at its keyboard without success.

"Terminal's damaged," she detected cleverly and knelt down, immediately starting to rummage through the console's electronics with Liara's watchful eyes still on her back. "Hang on."

So far, Shepard had kept her cool. Liara knew that behind Shepard's collected exterior, her mind had been racing this whole time, but who could blame her, really? She knew the commander well enough to sense when she'd have to interfere, but so far, Shepard seemed to have been able to distract herself with all their fights against the Reaper forces...

"It's working, Shepard," EDI informed and Shepard got back up, rubbing her knees when she was sure her squad was distracted by the message that had started playing. _I'm getting too old for this..._

* * *

_"Heading to the tower to disable the communication scrambler. I have to get word out. Some refugees are turned into husks. Some are indoctrinated and shipped to the Illusive Man. Whoever's left is used in experiments. The data indicates that my father is trying to figure out how Reaper indoctrination works."_

_Miranda ended the recording and leaned against the console to collect her thoughts. The surveillance footage she'd seen had been horrible. She'd have loved to say that she was shocked at her father's cruelty, but then again, she wasn't... What troubled her was the fact that he'd dragged her sister along with him to this place. That he'd endangered her life just to have her close... Maybe he'd been tipped off by one of his informants that Miranda was looking for her, or maybe he just liked to have her with him as some kind of "trophy", but whatever the reason, Miranda had to end it once and for all... And she would._

_Taking a deep breath, she finally pushed herself off the console and turned, the determination back on her face as she smashed a single, lost husk who stumbled towards her against a nearby wall without even raising her head. _Bloody annoying creatures!

* * *

"Tricking refugees with food and shelter only to turn them into test subjects." Shepard's grip on the console tightened. "And for what?" She sighed. As if the galaxy wasn't messed up enough as it was...

"The scale of this... it's unthinkable." Again, Shepard felt Liara's calming presence behind her as the asari stepped closer.

"I suggest tracking the shipments she mentioned. They could lead to the Illusive Man."

Both Shepard and Liara smiled at the AI's rational statement. At least one of them was still entirely focused on the mission...

"Good catch." Shepard turned around, smiling thankfully at Liara before she unholstered her weapon and climbed the stairs to the next perimeter. "Come on. Miranda said she was headed to the tower."

* * *

_"Heavy resistance outside the tower!" Miranda shot a quick glance over her shoulder at the approaching cannibals. _God, I hope someone finds these messages! _she thought before turning back to the console, "If you're receiving this, I've got evidence you can not ignore. Confirmation that my father is working for the Illusive Man."_

_She added the surveillance footage she'd found to her message. While it was uploading, she turned around, her hands glowing with biotic energy, ready to greet the approaching enemies..._

* * *

"Now we know why the Reapers attacked Sanctuary." Shepard took a step back from the console, her heart still racing after seeing Miranda's recording. She was still alive, that was a good sign. And damn, she still looked good...

"They ascertained what the Cerberus plan was. Unfortunate news for the Illusive Man." EDI's voice once more brought Shepard back to reality. _Guess I picked the right squad..._ she thought, smiling lightly.

"But it's good news for us. We finally have our link to Cerberus." She lowered the nearby access ladder and turned on her heels. "Come on! Let's move."

_Goddess, she won't like this..._

"Wait, Shepard! There's more here." The alert in Liara's voice made Shepard spin around immediately. _Please just show me footage of Miranda's father taking a shower..._

* * *

_Miranda cautiously crossed a seemingly empty room. She already felt her body weaken under the constant use of her biotics in those past hours. _God, how many of those husks and cannibals are there? Ugh, I just hope whoever investigates Sanctuary later on will have it easier, now that I've decimated their numbers... _A smile started tugging at the corner of her mouth. _Heh, Shepard would enjoy these fights. _She sighed._ I hope she's all right...

_A clacking sound to her right jolted her out of her thoughts, her body automatically readying itself for the next fight. But as she turned, the space to her right was empty..._

Strange, I know I've heard something... Damn it, the vents! That slippery bastard!_ Without even raising her head to confirm what she already knew, she spun on her heels and stormed towards the room's exit, only to be thrown off her feet seconds later as Kai Leng landed on the floor behind her, his biotics absorbing the fall._

* * *

"Damn it! I hope she's ready for him." Shepard was already speeding up the ladder, her squad following close behind. This was it... Liara knew there was nothing that could stop Shepard, or even slow her pace down, now. All she could do now was making sure the commander didn't charge blindly into a horde of marauders, ravagers and cannibals, or stumble into a spore pod... which, of course, she did...

* * *

"I didn't see it! And besides, it's really slippery in here..." Shepard exclaimed while grabbing Liara's offered hand, ignoring the asari's raised eyebrow altogether and letting her squad member lift her out of the sticky spore pod while EDI took care of the last ravager.

"You have some swarmer on you, Commander..."

"Why thank you, Dr. T'Soni. Wouldn't want to walk around like that, now would we?" Shepard started wiping off the slimy content of the now flat spore pod behind her, a shy smile on her face. Her fall seemed to have helped... or maybe it had been the previous fight. Either way, her worried expression from before was almost completly gone again. After all, it was Miranda Lawson she was worrying about... And when Miranda Lawson referred to someone as "slippery bastard", she was sure to give him a hell of a fight...

* * *

_Miranda took cover behind a wall only to lean out of it again seconds later, firing a few well aimed shots at her pursuer. The Cerberus assassin effortlessly blocked them with the kinetic barrier on his palm device, the confident smile never leaving his face._

Ugh god, how annoying!_ Miranda growled inwardly before jumping out of cover and making a lunge at the assassin. _Close combat it is, then...

_Surprised by Miranda's changed approach, Kai didn't have enough time to raise his arms in defense and Miranda's fist collided with his chin, the cracking sound of breaking bones filling the otherwise silent room for a second. _Yes!

* * *

"Commander, maybe you should take a few steps back from that edge..."

"Why won't this thing start already?" Shepard's pace around the edge of the platform the squad was momentarily standing on made Liara more nervous by the second.

"It will, Commander. With you on top of it or without you, and trust me: _I_ won't be the one scraping you off the ground, if you fall..."

"But you could catch me with a fluffy biotic pillow before I hit the ground..." Shepard shot her her warmest smile over the shoulder.

Liara sighed heavily, shaking her head. At that moment, the platform rumbled and finally started to move, bringing them closer to the tower. Afraid, Shepard could lose her balance (as indicated by the commander's waving arms), Liara hurried over to where Shepard was swaying and pulled her away from the edge.

Feeling Liara's reassuring hand on her waist, Shepard sighed and leaned on her friend.

"Do you think she's all right?" she murmured, resting her head on Liara's shoulder.

The asari nodded. "I do. And so should you..." She patted the commander on the shoulder. "Now let's finish this."

A smile spread across Shepard's face just as the platform had reached its destination. Feeling surprisingly refreshed, she gracefully jumped over the small gap separating them from the door leading to the next room (probably filled with brutes and banshees, judging by their luck so far...) and motioned her squad to follow.

* * *

Bastard!_ Miranda carefully touched her cheek. Kai Leng had managed to land a few hits himself after his first confusion about her attack had worn off. Although it had meant for her to take a few punches, Miranda had made sure she'd stayed close enough for his sword to be useless. _And to place a tracking device on your bloody, xenophobic ass!_, she thought, grinning. It turned out to be the right decision, and not too soon... Because as soon as Kai had started to see through her plan, he'd suddenly used his biotics, throwing Miranda backwards into a nearby wall, and drew his sword, weighing it in his hand as if to mock her. _Arrogant bastard! _They both faced each other now, both breathing heavily as they measured each other up._

_Before Miranda could think of a new strategy, he lunged forward, the sword in his hand ready to sink into her unprotected flesh. Miranda managed to swirl around him, evading the lethal weapon but gasping in surprise as he hit her unprotected back, sending her flying into a nearby door that opened only seconds later, letting her head slump back at the loss of support._

_She winced as a sharp pain shot through the back of her skull, but forced her eyes open again to quickly scan her surroundings. Another gasp escaped her as she recognised the two persons her unnanounced intrusion had startled._

Ori?

* * *

_A/N: And there you have it... good thing Shepard brought Liara along, I always saw her as kind of a calming source, even if you don't romance her... As always, I skipped most fight scenes, hope you don't mind... :)_

_Thanks for all your reviews! Oh, and if you wonder how the fight between Miranda and Kai might have looked like... TruePrince on Deviantart had a great idea... (called "Miranda Lawson vs Kai Leng", I'm too lazy to post the link, sorry...)_


	5. Chapter 5

**"Cerberus thanks you for all your hard work."**

.

_A/N: Heh, you're right, that was a cliffhanger... I hadn't even planned on continuing it (this chapter originally started with Shepard's appearance...), but since you seem to want it... there you have it, more Miranda-beating...  
On another note: I know Miranda would never tackle anyone but it was still fun to picture her doing it... :)  
As always: thanks a lot for your reviews! And Leene... bah, totally! I can't stand banshees! Slowly approaching enemies always scare me. You just know they're bad ass, they don't even have to hurry... Plus there's this scream when they die... Freaks me out every time 'cause I immediately think there's another banshee on the battlefield... just... ugh! :)_

.

_Miranda blinked as she tried to fight against the dizziness, but the pain pounding in her head seemed to make it worse by the second. She groaned as she turned to the side, forcing her eyes open once more to see Kai Leng approach her. The assassin paused momentarily as he'd reached her and looked down at her. He sighed as if disappointed before he kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying backwards into a desk to her right. She slumped down on the floor, Kai Leng walking past her without paying her any more attention. He had obviously lost his interest in the fight and judging by the state Miranda was in right now, he didn't consider her a worthy opponent anymore..._

_"No!" Oriana tried to run to her sister's side but was held back by her father, who'd grabbed her by the arm._

_"You'll stay with me!" he declared before he turned to the approaching assassin. "I've got the data. Where's our shuttle?"_

_Kai sneered as he held out his hand. "It's waiting for me. Now, if you could hand me the data..."_

_Henry Lawson shook his head vehemently. "That wasn't part of the deal! You have to take us with you!"_

_Kai gave a short laugh. "There is no deal, Mr. Lawson. Hand me the data or I'll have to get it myself... and that wouldn't be pleasant for you..." Judging by the tone in the assassin's voice, he didn't really care which option Henry Lawson chose. The only difference would be that it might take a little longer to beat the man in front of him to a pulp..._

_"But..." Henry Lawson still held his daughter's arm in a tight grip as his eyes nervously searched the assassin's face. "But what about me?"_

_Kai shrugged indifferently. "I'll leave you here to die," he declared matter-of-factly._

_He took another step towards the duo when he noticed a flicker of recognition in Oriana's eyes, which had been widened in shock and confusion up until now... His brows furrowed and he was about to turn as he felt two arms wrap around his midsection and the force of the impact knocked him off his feet and sent both him and his attacker to the ground. Miranda quickly straightened up and her fist collided with Kai's cheekbone, causing the expected cracking sound as it broke._

_Miranda's fist was about to crash down on the assassin's face a second time as he roared infuriated and bucked her off, jumping to his feet immediately. Before Miranda could even raise her head, he'd grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up. Only seconds later, she slammed into a large window overlooking the husk breeding ground underneath. The glass behind her made a cracking sound but didn't break while her limp body slumped down on the ground. Kai gracefully leaped over a desk separating him from his victim and effortlessly lifted her body once more, pressing her against the fine spiderwebs her impact had left in the glass window. "You will not interfere!" he hissed through clenched teeth._

_Accompanied by Oriana's scream, he spun around and threw her with as much force (or in his case hate) as he was able to muster into the desk standing opposite of the window, which would have slithered over the floor by the impact if not for the bolts holding it in place. Her head hit the desk's edge and all she could do in the short time left before her vision faded to black was watch Kai approach her father and sister..._

* * *

"Ugh, elevators... Why does it always have to be elevators? And why do they have to be this slow?"

Liara smiled. "I assume that's to build up the suspense, Commander..."

* * *

The rumbling of the nearby elevator woke Miranda up again and she gasped as she opened her eyes, turning her head from side to side to scan her surroundings. She ignored the pain in her head as she saw her father and sister standing not far from her, their backs turned on her.

"That's all your fault!" Oriana exclaimed, trying to free her arm from her father's grasp.

"You will-" Henry Lawson's voice was cut off as a biotic push hit him in the back. Miranda cursed herself as her father simply stumbled a few steps forward at the attack. She should have waited for her powers to recover...

Still, startled by the interruption (he didn't like being interrupted, period!), he loosened the grip on his daughter's arm, which Oriana used to free herself and snatch her father's pistol out of his other hand, pointing it at him. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger, but having never fired a gun before, she wasn't prepared for the gun's recoil and all the shots missed her father, impacting harmlessly in the wall behind him. He quickly stepped forward and violently ripped it out of her hand before she could fire another shot.

Miranda gritted her teeth as she tried to get up, but she slumped back against the desk, her weak body failing her. Still, her father catched her movement and his eyes shot from Oriana to Miranda, obviously deciding which one of his daughters he should aim his weapon at... But before he could come to a conclusion, the door to the room opened and he quickly grabbed Oriana who was still standing next to him, using her as a shield while he pointed his gun at the intruder.

"Commander Shepard. Excellent timing."

_And that's only one of my specialties... you ass! _"Put the gun down," Shepard ordered over her gun's barrel, slowly approaching them.

"No. Oriana tried to shoot me. Miranda's poisonous influence, no doubt."

A smile spread across Shepard's face. "I'm sorry she missed. Where's Kai Leng?" She quickly scanned the room to make sure the Cerberus assassin wasn't hiding in the shadows, before her eyes settled back on him. He simply shrugged.

"I don't know. Gone. He took my research and left us here to die."

_Ah, don't worry, you can still do that. I'm not here for you..._

"Miranda, can you hear me?" Shepard's eyes searched the room once more. She had to be here... She had to...

_Don't worry about me, you fool. _Slowly, Miranda crawled to her feet, not caring about the pain immediately shooting through her entire body the moment she moved.

Shepard's heart skipped a beat at the sight of her beaten lover and her narrowed eyes went back to Henry Lawson, her jaw tightening.

Lawson's eyes settled on Miranda, suddenly having two dangerous opponents approaching him obviously throwing him off balance.

"That's close enough. Both of you!" he exclaimed, fear already audible in his voice as if he knew his chances of getting out of this unharmed were slim (which, as Miranda furiously decided, they were). "Kai Leng didn't finish the job, but I will."

"This ends here," Shepard stated with a cold glare.

"On the contrary. Now that the Reapers are taken care of, we have a way out."

_Oh for the love of... Now I know where she's got her stubbornness from... _"Let her go."

"Shepard... don't let him take her," Miranda pleaded over her shoulder, her sister's voice making her head turn back to her before she could see Shepard's reaction.

"Shepard... please."

"You try to leave with her, you die. Let her go, and maybe you walk..." _...not!_

Despite the tense situation, Miranda couldn't stop but feeling a sudden exciting warmth spread through her body at Shepard's tone. _She's doing all of this for me..._

"I've done nothing to you," Henry Lawson stated, oblivious to the quick glances Shepard had shot at Miranda the entire time.

_Heh, I've killed people for less, but hurting my girlfriend puts you right on top of my shit list... _"This isn't about you and me. Let her go, and walk away. I won't say it again."

Henry Lawson seemed to realize that Shepard's "offer" was everything he'd get, and so he loosened his grip on Oriana and pushed her away as if she were an object he no longer had any use for, not caring about his daughter falling heavily on her hands and knees in the process.

"All right. Take her," he spoke without any emotion. "But I want out alive. Deal?"

_You goddamn son of a..._

Before Shepard even got a chance to put some incinerate rounds in his body (which she'd been looking forward to ever since she'd entered the room), he was thrown backwards out of the window, his screams stopping only seconds later as soon as he'd hit the ground underneath the window.

"No deal."

Shepard's, Liara's, and even EDI's, mouths hung open while the blue glow surrounding Miranda's body quickly vanished as all her remaining powers were spent on this last action.

A second passed and Miranda took a few, deep breaths to collect her thoughts, but since Shepard and her squad still seemed unable to move, she hurried to her sister herself. "Did he hurt you? Are you all right?" While the squad was still watching them with mouths hanging open, Miranda pulled her sister up and into a tight embrace. "It's okay, Ori. You're safe now," she soothed.

"I'm fine. I just... I want to get out of here."

Miranda smiled at her younger sister. "We will," she reassured her. "Give me a minute, okay?"

Oriana nodded and Miranda felt her heart skip a beat as she finally (_Finally!_) turned and approached the person whose touch she'd yearned for the most ever since hearing the familiar stomping footsteps...

"Shepard... I can't believe it's you."

Her voice finally jolted Shepard out of her numbness. She rubbed the nape of her neck, nodding. "We caught a break," she stated, trying her hardest to sound as casual as possible, despite her racing heart. "I'm just glad we got here in time."

"As am I." Miranda swung her arms around Shepard, resting her head right under the commander's chin. "Never saw myself as a damsel in distress," she admitted.

Shepard gave a short laugh. "Ah, don't worry... The first time I met Dr. T'Soni here..." She smiled over her shoulder, "I had to get her out of a Prothean security device..." Liara gave a short, sarcastic laugh behind them. Shepard winked at her friend and turned back to Miranda. "Besides... You broke into a fortified Cerberus lab while it was being attacked by Reapers..." She shrugged. "I think you did okay."

"I needed to find Oriana, nothing was going to stop me." Miranda shot a quick sideglance at her sister. At the sight of Liara's arm protectively draped around Oriana's shoulders, she exhaled in relief.

After she was sure she could bear being away from Shepard's familiar scent (mixed with the smell of dead swarmer and husk, but she wasn't picky at the moment) which she'd inhaled for the last couple of minutes, realizing how much she'd missed it in the short time they'd been separated, she leaned backwards, a playful smile appearing on her face as she asked, "Did you worry?"

"Who, me?" Shepard waved her hand dismissively. "Nah..."

Liara snorted behind the two of them, forcing Shepard to take her eyes off Miranda for another second.

"Isn't there any data you could analyze, Dr. T'Soni?" she asked over her shoulder.

"It was nothing I couldn't handle," Miranda chimed in, but at the sight of Shepard's raised eyebrow, she hastily added, "But I'm glad you were here to help." She rested her head on Shepard's shoulder.

"About your father..." Shepard started and Miranda was grateful for not having to look her in the eyes as she answered.

"I'm glad he's gone, Shepard. I'm sorry if that sounds cold."

"No, I understand. Heh, I was actually prepared to shoot him myself if you hadn't interfered." Shepard sighed. "You know, it could have been just like old times. You giving a short nodd, me killing the bad guy..." she mused while sadly patting the pistol on her hip.

Miranda smiled. _Of course... _She sighed before hesitantly freeing herself from the embrace.

"I should probably get this scratch cleaned up..."

"Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you!"

"I'm fine..." Miranda's smile quickly vanished as she saw the gleaming in Shepard's eyes and after a quick sideglance at Shepard's squad, she hastily added a little louder than necessary, "But now that I think about it... I _do_ feel a bit light-headed..."

Shepard grinned, licking her lips like a predator. "I thought so..." Miranda rolled her eyes, trying to stop the blusing while at the same time imploringly hoping no one of their companions was looking in their direction right this moment.

"Cortez, we need a pick up at the tower."

"Roger that."

Shepard motioned her squad, who'd been gathering all the data they could find, to move towards the exit but was held back by Miranda, leaning in and whispering in the commander's ear, "You didn't actually think I'd oversee EDI's new outfit, did you?"

* * *

"Commander Shepard, I think I left something in your cabin after taking a shower the other... Oh, I didn't know you had company..."

Samantha Traynor's eyes were immediately fixed on Miranda's fingers laced with Shepard's as the commander and her squad entered the CIC.

Shepard winced momentarily as Miranda's grip on her hand tightened. She turned and nodded towards Liara who was waiting near the elevator.

"It's all right, we'll take the next one. It would be too small for all of us anyway..."

Sensing that Shepard was grateful for every additional person leaving the CIC that moment, Liara softly grabbed Oriana's arm and pulled her into the elevator with her.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Shepard faced Samantha again. "Yeah, I found your br-" Noticing Miranda's narrowed eyes, she hastily corrected, "Your br...own socks... I already put them back into your locker, I think..."

Affirming, after a quick glance over her shoulder, that the elevator hadn't returned yet (one can still hope... at least it was faster than the old Normandy's...), she turned towards her Comm Specialist again, placing a careful hand on Miranda's hip and sighing relieved as her former XO let it happen without breaking Shepard's fingers one by one.

Noticing Miranda's challenging look, Samantha cleared her throat once before she addressed Shepard again. "The Alliance has issued warnings about Sanctuary."

"Good." Shepard nodded.

"Cerberus bastards. Horizon was my home." With Miranda's eyes still on her, Samantha finally gave up her efforts to get Shepard's attention (or compassion...), sensing the already lost fight, and added, "Just tell me you're going to take Cerberus down."

"Cerberus is already dead. They just don't know it yet. And when their base is nothing but a smoking crater, remember that you're the one who helped us find them," Shepard declared while Miranda rolled her eyes, wondering how many times Shepard had practiced that speech in front of her mirror...

"Thanks." Trying to hide her sudden blush, Samantha quickly turned back to her terminal.

"Commander," Joker's voice came through the comm.

"What is it, Joker?" _Please say something to distract her..._

"Aria sends her regards. She says, if you keep waking up on her couch every weekend, she might have to charge you for it someday..."

_Oh great..._

Just at that moment, the elevator doors finally opened again, making all heads turn as an enraged Javik stormed out of it and into the CIC. He accusingly pointed his finger at Shepard. "I do _not_ have any preferences, Commander! And I do _not_ 'like' anyone on this ship! Foolish, intoxicated quarian! This cycle is doomed! Doomed!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air while shoving past Shepard and Miranda.

"Was that...?"

"Javik, yes. The Normandy's own little ray of sunshine..."

"Charming..."

"Well, looks like our elevator's here," Shepard exclaimed while shoving Miranda through the open elevator doors.

"She blushed!"

"Yeah, she does that fairly regularly..."

"I wonder why..."

"Ha! Sarcasm... Let's go."

* * *

"...and then I told Shepard to keep quiet about my father's research and she pulled it off! Heh, she yelled at the Admiralty Board to 'leave her people out of their political bullshit'. I've never seen them that speechless..."

Miranda's eyes narrowed but Shepard quickly pulled her out of the elevator and together they turned the corner and were greeted by a hands-wringing Liara, approaching them hastily as soon as she'd spotted Shepard.

"Shepard, I don't know how this could happen. When I found her, she was already in this... state. I tried to approach her but..."

Before Shepard could even open her mouth, she heard a loud outcry, "Shepard! Miranda!" followed by a staggering Tali who threw her arms around both of the newcomers, capturing them in a surprisingly strong hug.

"Tali, are you drunk?" Shepard asked concerned while trying to free herself and Miranda from the tight embrace.

"Who? Me? Noooo. I was just toasting Miranda for stopping her father. And then I ran into her sister..."

Miranda's eyes immediately shot to one of the tables in the Mess Hall where a perplexed Oriana was sitting slumped down on a chair, cautiously observing the events taking place in front of her. While Shepard still struggled with Tali's strong grip, Miranda effortlessly slipped out of the quarian's grasp and hurried over to her sister.

"She did whatever it took to stop her father. She never gave into him, never changed herself to please him..." Tali whined while still leaning on Shepard for support.

"Ah." Shepard slung an arm around Tali's midsection to support her while she shot a quick apologetic look at Miranda.

"Don't 'ah' me. You sound like a vorcha."

Miranda's eyebrow rose and she gestured towards Tali with her free hand (her other arm protectively draped around her sister's shoulders). Shepard knew Miranda well enough to know exactly what she was telling her... _Do you see now what your unhealthy relationship to alcohol has done to your crew?_

"I spent my life trying to live up to him, then making up for his mistakes, doing what he'd have wanted..." Tali went on while Shepard helplessly shrugged her shoulders. "When do we get to stop reacting to our parents and start living for ourselves?"

"Here's to Miranda," Shepard offered with a shy smile.

"Nice job, you genetically perfect Cerberus cheerleader bosh-"

"Aaaaand I think that's enough for you today. Come on, I'll bring you to the Crew Quarters. You _really_ should lay down for a bit..."


	6. Chapter 6

**"Shepard... Promise me you'll be careful."**

.

"Genetically perfect Cerberus cheerleader bosh-what?"

"Erm, let's not dwell on that..." Shepard tried her hardest to avert Miranda's gaze.

"No, let's! What did she mean?" Miranda asked over Dr. Chakwas' shoulder, who'd just positioned herself in front of the bed in the Med Bay Miranda was momentarily sitting on. And noticing Dr. Chakwas' grin, she gestured towards the doctor who was already walking back to her terminal, holding Miranda's blood sample in her hand. "See? Even Dr. Chakwas knows what she meant!"

"Karin," Shepard exclaimed reproachfully.

Dr. Chakwas raised her head from the terminal and turned in her chair. "I'm only here for the medical examination, don't drag me into this." And after a few more quick taps, she announced, "As expected, you are perfectly fine, Ms. Lawson. Most of your wounds are already healed and the rest should take care of itself within the next hour. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Miranda answered dismissively and shoved Shepard's hand away as she jumped off the bed and stormed towards the exit, Shepard pursuing her immediately, sensing where her former XO was headed...

Outside the Med Bay, Miranda quickly scanned the Mess Hall and stopped dead in her tracks as she couldn't spot her sister.

"If you're looking for Oriana, Liara's showing her her office. Heh, you should have seen the spark in her eyes when she heard that she was standing in front of the real Shadow Broker..."

Both Miranda and Shepard (who'd meanwhile put a hand on Miranda's arm, just as a precaution, of course...) turned their heads and Garrus raised Tali's abandoned glass filled with purple liquor to toast them.

"Listen, about Tali... I heard what happened and... I guess I shouldn't have shown her the trick with the straw..." he started but was cut off by Shepard.

"You did _what_?"

"Is that the hour? Wow, I think I should get back to my calibrations..." Garrus hurriedly grabbed the remaining bottles on the table and made his way to the main gun, accompanied by the clinking sound of the bottles shaking together.

The shock of the revelation that Garrus had actually taught Tali, her sweet, innocent Tali, how to get drunk (which, under different circumstances, would have earned him her deepest respect, considering the difficulty of the task of enabling a quarian to drink that much liquor without killing himself in general), Shepard loosened her grip on Miranda's arm, which her former XO took as a chance to free herself from the commander's grasp and continue her pace towards the Crew Quarters.

When she could already see the closed doors leading to a (probably soon enough not anymore) peacefully slumbering Tali, Miranda felt a strong arm around her midsection pulling her away from the door and towards the elevator.

"You haven't seen my cabin yet. I'm sure the fish would love to see you again. If they still remember you, that is..." Shepard gave a mocking sigh. "It's been so long..."

The remark earned Shepard a slap on the back of her head from her former XO, which she gratefully took as she felt Miranda's determination weaken. After one last annoyed sigh, Miranda gave up and let Shepard lead her into the waiting elevator.

"Oh fine..."

* * *

"My, Commander Shepard, what a marvellous bathroom you have... I could get lost in here. Ah, and that shower... gorgeous..." Miranda's imitation of a british accent rang out of Shepard's bathroom.

"Mmmh, you know how weak in the knees I get at all those accents..."

Miranda appeared in the doorframe, hand on her hip. "I'm surprised Dr. Chakwas was able to look you in the eye without blushing before..." she stated.

Shepard propped herself up on her elbows as she observed Miranda who slowly approached the bed she was lying on. "Yeah, me and Karin go way back..."

"Should I be concerned, Commander?"

"Like you seem to be with every other person I meet?" Shepard retorted before nodding, a feigned seriousness on her face. "Absolutely!"

"I still have some names on my list, just so you know..." Miranda had reached the bed and leaned in to quickly brush her lips against Shepard's, immediately retreating again.

"Let's have it!"

"Oh no... First you're going to tell me what Tali was trying to say..."

"Make me..."

* * *

Five minutes later, Shepard had surrendered (after all, Miranda _was_ superior in many ways...) and they were once more lying comfortably on the bed.

"Traynor!"

"Again?"

"You didn't properly answer my question the first time. What happened in that shower?"

"I offered her to use it."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because..." Shepard sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I'm still not used to having all these privileges while my crew has to fight over the last hot water left..." Shrugging, she added, "Or maybe I just got distracted by her accent..."

Miranda's elbow met Shepard's ribs. "So, what happened?"

"She took a shower, told me about wanting to look good for someone..."

"Aha!"

"I didn't join her, if that's what you mean."

"But you watched her."

"She let the door open..."

"Oh that little slut! And what about her br...own socks?"

"Well... she may have left a part of her clothing that _could_ be considered... inappropriate in the bathroom, which I immediately returned to her, of course..."

Convinced, as Shepard didn't avert her eyes under Miranda's suspicious glare, she went to the next name she'd just recently added to her list. She took a deep breath to prepare herself (after all, the next name would be a very unwanted, not to mention dangerous competition...) before she went on.

"Aria?"

"Wha...? No! I simply may have passed out a couple of times in _Purgatory_ and since I'd helped her regain control over all those merc bands on Omega, she let me sleep on her couch. Nothing happened!"

"How do you know that? You were passed out!"

That statement made Shepard pause for a second before she carefully answered, "Yeah, but... I still had all my clothes on... And we were in public..." As she had to admit, her voice didn't exactly sound like she was convinced herself, but Miranda let it go regardless. If anything _had_ happened, they would find out about it on the extranet soon enough...

"Kaidan?"

"Heh, Kaidan never got the hints... Never has and probably never will... You should ask Liara about that, she can tell you a thing or two about it..."

"And you're not interested in him..."

"In Kaidan?" Shepard gave a short laugh. "As much as I enjoy deep, philosophical conversations, but... no, definitely not! I prefer your cold glares to his puppy eyes, any day."

_And there will be a lot more of those if you keep this up..._

Shepard propped her chin in the palm of her hand and turned towards Miranda, smiling. It was her turn now... "You know, you could have just told me about your plan..."

"I had to take care of that myself..." Miranda averted her eyes and instead started playing with her jumpsuit's zipper absent-mindedly.

"Well, I _did _help you rescue your sister in the end... It would have been a lot easier for both of us if you'd have just told me from the start..."

Miranda sighed heavily and let go of the zipper. "Yes, I know. And I'm sure this wasn't the last time I'll hear this..."

A smile spread across Shepard's face as she shrugged. "Yeah, I might mention it a couple times more..."

"Of course you will..."

"So... Anyone else on your list? Anything we should talk about before I properly welcome you aboard the Normandy?"

"Jane, I..."

Shepard shook her head to silence her. "Listen, whoever's left on your list, and I do hope there aren't _that_ many more... I _do_ travel the galaxy quite often, but even I don't meet that many people..." Seeing Miranda's raised eyebrow, she quickly added, "But anyway: nothing happened. You're all I need and always will be..."

Hadn't her heart skipped a beat at those words, Miranda might have managed a sarcastic remark, but with her body reacting the way it did now, she simply leaned over and captured Shepard's lips in a kiss, both of them knowing that, whatever may happen in the future, they still had this moment (and it would be a shame to let it go to waste, as Shepard immediately decided)...

* * *

_"Ready?"_

_Miranda raised her head and smiled. She nodded at Shepard who was leaning against the doorframe to her office. "Yes," she said, letting her eyes wander over her cabin one last time. Taking a deep breath, she got up from her chair, the program she'd started still erasing all her relevant personal files from her terminal. She approached her bed and grabbed the bag containing what little she'd decided to take with her. The Alliance could have the rest, she didn't care..._

_Shepard stepped behind her, placing a hand on her back as she and took the bag out of Miranda's hand and carried it for her as they left the cabin and stepped into the almost empty Mess Hall. Gardner was standing by his kitchen, drowning what Miranda suspected to be not quite his first drink today. He turned his head as he saw them cross the hall and raised his glass, smiling at her. Miranda nodded at him once and did the same for Dr. Chakwas, who smiled at them through the window in the Med Bay._

_They waited for the elevator to arrive and Miranda looked down the hallways to both of her sides, the doors all leading to empty rooms, as the majority of Shepard's former crew had already left the Normandy, knowing that Shepard being called to Earth meant that they wouldn't be able to travel the galaxy in search for new missions any time soon again... So, they'd all left the ship, one by one. All except for a skeleton crew necessary to fly such a technological miracle, including Tali and Garrus (who'd never leave Shepard's side without being dragged off, which was bound to happen pretty soon...) and Miranda, who'd stayed as long as she'd been able to. But now that the Normandy was on its way to Earth, there was nothing left to delay their imminent parting..._

_The elevator doors opened and the two stepped in, the silence that had accompanied them since they'd left Miranda's office following them into the small cabin on their way down to the CIC._

_Miranda turned her head, smiling at Shepard. "Do you know what you'll be wearing?" she asked, trying to lighten up the mood. And raising an eyebrow, she added, "I hope you'll decide against that awful dress..."_

_Shepard gave a short laugh and shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows? Maybe they'll go easy on me if I show some leg..."_

_The elevator doors opened and they stepped into the CIC, both smiling again now. Kelly turned away from her terminal as soon as she heard them approach. "You're going to be all right," the yeoman sobbed into Miranda's shoulder as she held the horrified XO in a tight embrace. "Just be strong!" _

_Miranda shot Shepard, who was standing next to them, grinning, a pleading look and the commander nodded, tapping Kelly on the shoulder._

_"I think that's enough, Kelly. Yes, let her go, that's right... She'll be all right. Good, now the other arm..."_

_The yeoman finally let go and dramatically turned back to her terminal, her sobs following Miranda and Shepard on their way to the airlock._

_When they'd reached it, Joker turned in his chair, waving his goodbyes as he opened the Normandy's airlock._

_"Wait for me!" A hooded figure sped through the CIC and into the airlock with them._

_Shepard turned around and her brows furrowed in confusion as she recognized the master thief. "Kasumi? I thought you were long gone..."_

_A smile tugged at Kasumi's lips as she shrugged. "Tactical cloak, remember? Thought I'd stick around for a while longer after I've missed Jacob's departure..." Her eyes started gleaming under the hood as she looked at Miranda. "You don't happen to know where he's gone?"_

_"Who's Jacob?" Shepard grinned despite Kasumi's fist punching her arm. The commander shrugged, rubbing her arm with her free hand as soon as she'd put Miranda's bag down. "Didn't even notice when he was gone..." she mused, evading Kasumi's fist successfully this time. "Are you sure he doesn't have a tactical cloak, too? He always seemed so... inconspicuous..."_

_"He's not dull!" Kasumi exclaimed, remembering all those talks she'd had with Shepard about the object of her desire. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, pouting._

_Shepard put an arm around the master thief's shoulders and gently squeezed, which seemed to soothe her friend somewhat. "Where's your baggage?"_

_Kasumi waved her hand dismissively, a smile already tugging at her lips again. "Ah, you know I always travel light..." She winked at them. "But don't worry, while you were otherwise occupied..." Shepard and Miranda exchanged a short glance, then quickly evaded each other's (and Kasumi's) eyes and looked in different directions. "I've emptied my room some more with every place we've been docked along our way. All my belongings will be shipped to my new destination as soon as I decide where that will be..."_

_"Well..." Shepard sighed and turned back to Miranda, still smiling. "This is it..."_

_Miranda nodded and, after shooting a quick sideglance at Kasumi, who simply nodded and motioned towards Shepard, mouthing 'Go ahead', wrapped her arms around Shepard one last time, silently wondering when she'd see her again..._

_"Shepard, you're only prolonging the decontamination process if you move in there," came Joker's voice over the comm, forcing Shepard to sigh and release Miranda from her embrace._

_"Right... I always seem to forget that," the commander murmured._

_"Unless you're doing something I could add to my collection. If that's the case: go ahead, take your time... but please take pictures..."_

_The door finally opened and both Kasumi and Miranda stepped out into the open, quickly scanning the empty docking area around them (a habit they'd have to keep, now that they were on the run). They both turned back to Shepard who smiled at them once more, raising her hand as a final goodbye before the door closed and separated them._

_Kasumi nudged her gently. "So, what are you gonna do now?"_

_Miranda shook her head. "I honestly don't know. For once I haven't planned that far ahead..."_

* * *

"So... this is it, huh?"

Miranda nodded.

"And you're sure you don't wanna stick around?"

Miranda shook her head, smiling. "I wish I could, Shepard, but... It's not just about me anymore. I have to take care of my sister first..."

Shepard nodded. "Yeah, I know." She shrugged. "Well, more fun for me then, I guess..."

Miranda took a step towards her. "Don't forget to send Mr. Leng my regards..."

Shepard's eyes started to gleam as she smiled devilishly. "Don't worry, I'll kill him for you!"

Miranda sighed mockingly. "Such a romantic..." She swung her arms around Shepard's neck and leaned close to her ear, whispering, "Finish this, Shepard. And find me."

Shepard nodded. "I will. I promise."

Miranda took a step back and turned to her sister, placing a protective arm around her as they stepped into the airlock. Before the doors fully closed, she turned her head back to the smiling commander once more, silently wondering when she'd see her again...

* * *

_A/N: So... This is it... :) Sorry for the long wait... And this was actually the end, last chapter. There just wasn't much to work with from the actual game and since I wanted to stick to the story... I'm out of moves... ;) I still like the Miri/Shep pairing, so I'll continue with the one-shots I've already started, so please feel free to tell me if there's anything you'd like to read in the future. As always: tell me what you think, what you liked, didn't like, want me to change, etc... :)  
But for now there's not much left to say except for thanks a lot for reading, liking and reviewing (oh god, your have no idea how much I love all of your reviews... And don't worry anon, as long as I get reviews like yours, I'm perfectly fine and happy about it... :) )  
Thanks a lot!  
_


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